Adjustable chin rest for smokers pipes

ABSTRACT

A chin rest mountable on a pipe including a support member slidably associated with the mouthpiece, an arm pivotally connected to the support member and terminating at its free end with a chin plate, wherein the arm extends at an angle to the mouthpiece of the pipe when the chin plate engages the chin of the smoker, and the relative location of the chin rest along the length of the mountpiece may be adjusted to fit the smoker.

United States Patent [191 Dahly 1 ADJUSTABLE CHIN REST FOR SMOKERS PIPES [76] Inventor: Harold W. Dahly, 4859 N. Paulina St., Chicago, 111. 60640 22 Filed: July 2,1973

21 App1.No.:375,342

[ Aug. 6, 1974 321,081 10/1929 GreatBritain.v 131/186 Primary Examiner--Joseph S. Reich Attorney, Agent, or FirmLockwood, Dewey, Zickert & Alex [57] ABSTRACT A chin rest mountable on a pipe including a support member slidably associated with the mouthpiece, an arm pivotally connected to the support member and terminating at its free end with a chin plate, wherein the arm extends at an angle to the mouthpiece of the pipe when the chin plate engages the chin of the smoker, and the relative location of the chin rest along the length of the mountpiece may be adjusted to the smoker.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 1 ADJUSTABLE CHIN REST FOR SMOKERS PIPES This invention relates in general to pipes for smoking tabacco, and more particularly to a chin rest for a smokers pipe to reduce the bite load of the smoker, and still more particularly to an adjustable chin rest for a pipe capable of being easily adjusted to the smoker.

A pipe smoker, in handling of a pipe, must either keep a hand on the end or bowl portion of the pipe in order to assist in supporting the pipe when grasping the mouthpiece of the pipe between the teeth in order to lighten the load on the teeth, or subject the teeth to the entire load of the pipe when'the hands of the smoker are preoccupied. The load on the teeth, which may hereinafter be referred to as the bite load as it involves biting down on the mouthpiece, becomes discomforting after a period of time when both hands of the smoker are preoccupied, and especially for a smoker who wears dentures.

The chin rest of the present invention overcomes the above-mentioned discomforting disadvantage in reducing the bite load substantially by transferring a portion of the bite load to the chin through the chin rest. The chin rest of the invention includes a support member slidably coupled to the mouthpiece of the pipe and therefore adjustable along the mouthpiece. Pivotally swung from the support member is an arm terminating in a chin plate whereby the arm can be pivoted to a position of comfort for the smoker in allowing the chin plate to engage the desirable part of the chin.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a chin rest for a pipe which substantially reduces the bite load of the smoker and thereby enables the smoker to be more comfortable and better enjoy smoking of a pipe.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of a chin rest for a pipe that is adjustable and may be moved between an inactive and an active position, depending upon use of the pipe. i

It is a further object of this invention to provide a chin rest which, while capable of reducing the bite load by a substantial amount, does not add to the static weight of the pipe and does not distract from the overall appearance of the pipe or restrict its usage.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheet of drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a pipe having a chin rest according to the present invention and illustrated in operation with a smoker;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the pipe mouthpiece and chin rest shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a slightly enlarged fragmentary and sectional view of the pipe in FIG. 1 and a side elevational view of the chin rest mounted thereon, wherein the chin rest is illustrated in inactive or stored position in solid lines and inactive position in phantom;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of i a mouthpiece and a perspective view of another 'form- ,7

' v cordingly, the support member will be retained at any of chin rest support; and.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a further modification of the invention shown in position on a pipe in phantom.

Referring now to the drawings, a pipe 10 having a chin rest 11 mounted thereon according to the invention is shown in FIG. I, wherein the chin rest is in active position to relieve the bite load of the smoker and greatly add to the pleasure of smoking.

The pipe 10 includes a shank 15 having a bowl 16 for receiving tobacco and a mouthpiece or pipe stem 17. The pipe 10 illustrated is of a conventional design wherein the mouthpiece 17 includes at one end a diametrically reduced portion l8,frictionally fitting in a socket 19 formed in the shank 15. A smoke hole 20 extends through the mouthpiece and connects or communicates with a smoke hole 21 in the shank which communicates with the bowl 16. At the other end of the mouthpiece .which is adapted to be engaged by the teeth of the smoker, the mouthpiece is tapered to assist in allowing the smoker to easily insert the mouthpiece into his mouth while terminating in a ridge 22 which would be positioned on the tongue side of the teeth, thereby assisting in preventing slippage through the teeth when gripped thereby. It should be appreciated that other forms of mouthpieces may be utilized.

The chin rest 11 includes a support 25 slidably coupled to the mouthpiece 17, an arm 26 pivotally connected to the support 25, and a chin plate 27 at the free end of the arm 26.

The support 25 includes an inverted U-shaped body 30, which includes a base 31 and a pair of downwardly extending ears 32, 32. A slot or opening 33 is defined between the ears. Extending upwardly from the base 31 of the body isa substantially T-shaped coupling member 34 which slidably engages in a longitudinally extending T-shaped slot 35 formed in the mouthpiece 17 of the pipe. One end of the arm 26 is received in the slot or opening 33 of the support and pivotally connected to the ears 32 by means of a pin 36. The pin 36 'is tightly fitted into holes 37, 37 formed in the ears 32 and a hole 38 formed in the end of the arm 26 so that when the arm is swung to a position relative the mouthpiece it will be frictionally held in that position until a force is applied to move it to another position. The end of the arm 26 is formed with an edge 37 which defines a stop for abutting against the underside of the base 31 when the arm is pivoted into operative position such as shown in FIG. 1 and as shown in phantom in FIG. 3 to limit the movement relative the pipe mouthpiece. However, it should be appreciated the chin rest could be provided without the stop if desired.

The T-shaped coupling member 34 which connects the chin rest to the mouthpiece is defined, as seen in cross section in FIG. 4, effectively by a single vertical rib which, as seen in side elevation in FIG. 3, includes spaced vertical rib segments 42 and 43. The segment 42 includes a flange 44 at its upper end extending laterally of the segment in one direction, while the rib segment 43 is provided with a laterally extending flange 45 at its upper end extending in the opposite direction. The T-shaped coupling member 34 and the T-shaped slot 35 are sized so that there is a frictional fit between them whereby movement of the coupling member to a particular location along the slot will require a force applied to the support member and thereafter the support member will remain at that moved position. Ac-

desired position along the slot, and therefore the position of the support member and the pivot axis of the arm 26 and chin rest 27 can be adjusted as needed. The end of the slot adjacent the shank 15 of the pipe is open to allow insertion or removal of the support member from the slot. The other end of the T-shaped slot is closed. As shown in the drawings, the T-shaped slot is formed on the bottom side of the mouthpiece so that the chin rest will be on the side of the chin when the pipe is inserted upright into the mouth of the smoker.

The chin plate 27 at the end of the arm 26 is arcuately formed and preferably provided on its outer surface with a soft cushioning material 48, such as foam plastic or foam rubber to provide a comfortable .engagement with the chin of the smoker. The chin rest is otherwise made of any suitable material such as a metal or plastic, but preferably made of plastic which would be light in weight and inexpensive to fabricate so that the chin rest would not be very costly to add to a pipe. While the arm 26 is shown to be straight, it could be justing it in accordance with the facial profile of the smoker. The arm 26 and chin plate 27 are mounted to the support member 258 in the same manner as in the previous embodiments. This embodiment merely differs in that it need not require the T-slotting of the mouthpiece prior to mounting it on the mouthpiece. It

can be appreciated the clip is spring-like and sized to curved if so desired to enhance the fit with a smokers facial profile. ,8

It should be appreciated that the chin rest could be incorporated into a pipe when it is made or mouthpieces could be marketed with the chin rest mounted thereon for application to the shank and bowl of the pipe.

A modified form of support member is illustrated in FIG. and generally designated by the numeral A which differs from support member 25 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4 only in that the T-shaped coupling member is differently formed. This T-shaped coupling member, generally indicated by the numeral 52, includes a pair of vertical side-by-side rib segments 53 and 54 having at their upper ends laterally extending flanges 55 and 56. The support member is otherwise the same as the support member 25 of thefirst embodiment and it operates and functions in the same manner as illustrated in FIG. 5 wherein the T-shaped coupling member engages in the T-shaped groove or slot of the mouthpiece 17. The side-by-side vertical ribs 53 and 54 essentially define a double ribbed coupling as opposed to the single rib coupling of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4.

A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 6 which differs from the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 4 and FIG. 5 only in that means forcoupling the chin rest to the pipe stem or mouthpiece does not depend upon a longitudinally extending T-shaped groove in the mouthpiece and can be applied to any mouthpiece by simply clipping on to the mouthpiece. This embodiment which includes a support member 258 differs in that the support member has attached to the upper side a clip or clamp 60 which is resilient to the extent that it can be easily mounted on to the mouthpiece. More specifically, the clip 60 is arcuate in shape and sided so that the free ends 61 will override the opposite sides of the mouthpiece and frictionally engage the mouthpiece so that the chin rest can be adjustably positioned along the mouthpiece when moving it between active and inactive positions and also when adfit tight on the mouthpiece.

In operation the chin rest can be associated with the mouthpiece in active or inactive position. For example, the chin rest shown in solid lines in FIG. 3 is in inactive position for storage of the pipe and chin rest together, wherein the arm 26 and chin plate are swung toward and against the mouthpiece and the support member 25 is moved forward toward the shank and bowl. When it is desired to use the pipe with the chin rest, and it should be here appreciated that the pipe can be used with or without the chin rest, it is merely necessary to swing the arm 26 and chin plate downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 1 or a suitable position, and then slide the entire chin rest, to a desired position by applying the requisite force to the support 25, until the chin rest is adjacent to the comfort of the smoker. Thereafter, when the hands are preoccupied a substantial portion of the bite load is transferred through the chin rest to the chin to relieve the pressure on the teeth of the smoker. This will provide much more pleasurable smoking of the pipe.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of 'the novel concepts of the present invention, but it is understood that this application is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In combination with a pipe having a shank, a bowl on the shank, and a mouthpiece fitted to the shank, the improvement comprising an adjustable chin rest mounted on the pipe, said chin rest including a support, means providing a T-shaped slot extending lengthwise in the mouthpiece, and a T-shaped coupling member on said support frictionally and slidably received in said slot means for slidably mounting the support on the mouthpiece, an arm pivotally connected to said support to swing along a vertical plane when the pipe is upright, and a chin plate on the free end of the arm adapted to engage the chin of the smoker, whereby the arm may be positioned at an angle to the mouthpiece when engaging the chin whereby a portion of the pipe weight may be borne by the chin of the smoker.

2. The combination as defined in claim I, wherein said T-shaped coupling member includes a pair of sideby-side parallel rib segments having oppositely and outwardly extending flanges at their upper ends.

3. The combination as defined in claim I, wherein said T-shaped member includes a pair of end-to-end rib segments, one of which includes a flange extending outwardly in one direction and the other of which includes a flange extending outwardly in the other direction.

4. The combination as defined in claim I, wherein the T-shaped slot is open at one end to permit mounting and demounting of the chin rest on the mouthpiece. l a: 

1. In combination with a pipe having a shank, a bowl on the shank, and a mouthpiece fitted to the shank, the improvement comprising an adjustable chin rest mounted on the pipe, said chin rest including a support, means providing a T-shaped slot extending lengthwise in the mouthpiece, and a T-shaped coupling member on said support frictionally and slidably received in said slot means for slidably mounting the support on the mouthpiece, an arm pivotally connected to said support to swing along a vertical plane when the pipe is upright, and a chin plate on the free end of the arm adapted to engage the chin of the smoker, whereby the arm may be positioned at an angle to the mouthpiece when engaging the chin whereby a portion of the pipe weight may be borne by the chin of the smoker.
 2. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said T-shaped coupling member includes a pair of side-by-side parallel rib segments having oppositely and outwardly extending flanges at their upper ends.
 3. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said T-shaped member includes a pair of end-to-end rib segments, one of which includes a flange extending outwardly in one direction and the other of which includes a flange extending outwardly in the other direction.
 4. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the T-shaped slot is open at one end to permit mounting and demounting of the chin rest on the mouthpiece. 